No bail for charged ex-detainee

244718_11

by Cam Lucadou-Wells

A registered sex offender recently released from immigration detention after a recent High Court of Australia ruling has faced Dandenong Magistrates Court.

Emran Dad, 33, was charged with nine counts of failing to comply with his reporting obligations, including three charges of failing to report to police that he had contact with a child.

He was also accused of failing to report to police his use of a mobile phone service, his creation of a new email address and his online identities on social media platforms TikTok, Bigo and Instagram.

Dad also faced a charge of alleged trespass in refusing to leave a public place in Dandenong on 24 November.

He was arrested by police in Dandenong on the morning of 5 December.

In a brief remand hearing that afternoon, he declined to apply for bail.

Defence lawyer Bernard Keating said his client had been in immigration detention for several years, had an intellectual disability and was “not happy” being in custody.

Mr Keating requested a nurse or doctor to assess Dad’s breathing difficulties.

“He says he’s had visits to hospital while in detention.”

Prior to being in detention, Dad was assisted by disability services but was not provided those services since his release, Mr Keating said.

Earlier, Victoria Police confirmed the man was “one of the detainees recently released following a High Court ruling”.

“Victoria Police is always proactive in addressing community risk presented by those who would commit criminal acts.”

Registered sex offenders in Victoria are under “significant and rigorous reporting obligations” such as providing information on their personal circumstances on a regular basis, a police spokesperson said.

Last month, 148 detainees, including convicted criminals, were released after the High Court’s landmark ruling that indefinite immigration detention was unlawful.

Three of the criminal detainees have since been arrested across the country.

Dad was remanded in custody to appear at a mention hearing at Dandenong Magistrates’ Court on 14 December.